HEALTH - The African Mirror

Sep

28

2021

COVID-19 pandemic cut life expectancy by most since World War Two –study

COVID-19

VICTOR JACK THE COVID-19 pandemic reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since World War Two, according to a study published by Oxford University, with the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years. Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared with 2019 in 22 of the 29 countries analysed in the study, which spanned Europe, the United States and Chile. There were reductions in life expectancy in 27 of the 29 countries overall. The university said most life expectancy reductions across different countries could be linked to official COVID-19 deaths. There have…

Dec

12

2020

By The African Mirror

One year on, Wuhan market at epicentre of virus outbreak remains barricaded, empty

COVID-19

CATE CADELL FOR over six years, 38-year-old Wuhan restaurant owner Lai Yun started most days the same way - with a trip to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, just ten minutes walk from his house. "I'd send the kids to school, have breakfast and then walk over to the market. It was very convenient," he said. That changed on Dec. 31, 2019, after four cases of a mystery pneumonia were linked to the market and it was shuttered overnight. By the end of the month, the city had begun a gruelling 76-day lockdown that came with just hours notice and…

Sep

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Global vaccines project to revamp rules after Britain got more than Botswana

COVID-19

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO IN March, as wealthy Britain led the world in vaccination rates and almost half its people had received a shot, the organisation meant to ensure fair global access to COVID-19 vaccines allotted the country over half a million doses from its supplies. By contrast Botswana, which hadn't even started its vaccination drive, was assigned 20,000 doses from the same batch of millions of Pfizer mRNA vaccines, according to publicly available documents detailing COVAX's allocations. Other poorer nations, with fledgling vaccination drives at best, also received fewer shots than Britain. Rwanda and Togo were each allotted about 100,000 doses,…

Dec

12

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO expects decisions on Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca vaccines in weeks

COVID-19

THE World Health Organization expects to make decisions on whether to give emergency use approval to COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca in the coming weeks, its chief scientist has said. Soumya Swaminathan said the global health body could decide on Pfizer's vaccine candidate in the next "couple of weeks", and later said it could also review Moderna's and AstraZeneca's candidates in a few weeks. WHO approval could allow a vaccine to be deployed in some countries where national medical regulators have not yet been able to evaluate it. Swaminathan said at least 10 companies had expressed an interest…

Dec

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Egypt receives first batch of Sinopharm coronavirus vaccines

COVID-19

EGYPT has received its first shipment of vaccines developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and will get more deliveries soon, health officials have disclosed. The shipment arrived at Cairo airport from the United Arab Emirates, which has been carrying out phase III clinical trials of the vaccine. The UAE health ministry said this week that the Sinopharm vaccine had 86% efficacy, citing an interim analysis of the late-stage clinical trials. The vaccine has already been used on about 1 million people in China in an emergency programme. In Egypt the vaccine, taken in two doses 21 days apart, will…

Dec

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria may be on verge of second wave of COVID-19 infections warns health minister

COVID-19

FELIX ONUAH NIGERIA may be on the verge of a second wave of COVID-19 infections amid rising number of confirmed cases in Africa's most populous country over the last few weeks, the health minister has announced. Osagie Ehanire, speaking at a televised news conference in the capital Abuja, said 1,843 cases were recorded last week compared with 1,235 two weeks before that, and 1,126 the week before that. "We may just be on the verge of a second wave of this pandemic," he said. His comments came a day after South Africa said it had officially entered a second wave.…

Dec

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Africa disease control head calls on rich nations to share excess COVID-19 shots

COVID-19

OMAR MOHAMMED COUNTRIES that have ordered more COVID-19 vaccines than they need should consider distributing excess doses to Africa, the head of the continent's disease control body has said. As African countries begin to feel the effects of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said it was unlikely to secure enough vaccine shots. Many African states are relying on COVAX, a global COVID-19 vaccine allocation plan co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is working to lower prices and discourage hoarding. "Some countries have got…

Dec

11

2020

By The African Mirror

South African pharma regulator to fast track vaccine applications

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa intends to fast track regulatory approval for COVID-19 vaccines and expects the first applications within a fortnight, pharmaceutical regulator SAHPRA told Reuters, as the country faces a second wave of infections. South Africa is the continent's hardest-hit country with more than 828,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and over 22,000 deaths. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday that four of the country's nine provinces were driving a resurgence in cases. The government hopes to receive its first vaccines from the COVAX global vaccine distribution scheme in the second quarter of next year. "SAHPRA will prioritise all COVID-19 applications and…

Sep

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Children are losing caregivers to COVID-19: they need support

COVID-19

CHILDREN have a very low risk of death or severe disease from COVID-19. As a result, they have not been a core focus in the pandemic response priorities of prevention, detection, and response. But this approach doesn’t take into account the secondary impacts of the pandemic. These include children being orphaned or bereft of their caregivers. LORRAINE SHERR, Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology, UCL LUCIE CLUVER, Honorary Professor in Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town Children are among the most vulnerable members of any society and are thus disproportionately affected by the devastation of this pandemic. If…

Dec

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Dignity at the end of life: a Malawian nursing study shows the impact of food

HEALTH

WORLD hunger has risen for the third year in a row, with Africa reported to have the highest rate of undernourishment of all regions globally. Africa also bears the greatest burden of HIV, which is linked to food insecurity, and women are disproportionately affected by HIV and food insecurity compared to men. ELIZABETH MKANDAWIRE, Network and Research Manager: ARUA – UKRI GCRF FSNet Africa, University of Pretoria ANNE DRESSEL, Assistant Professor of Global Health, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee LUCY MKANDAWIRE-VALHMU, Associate professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, College of Nursing PENINNAH KAKO, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee…